In an era of instant MP3 gratification, it can be nice to just kick back and let the radio DJs take the wheel. TuneIn Radio, with stations and features galore, is pretty much the ultimate iOS radio app.

What is it?

TuneIn Radio, iPhone and iPad, $2. A fantastic radio app an unfathomable amount of stations, both local and global, that you can jump in on whenever you want. If browsing is too daunting, you can search for songs or artists and zero in on the stations currently playing them. The app supports backgrounding in iOS 4.2 and can be controlled with iOS's built-in playback controls. Best of all, it basically works like a DVR for radio—you can pause a live stream, rewind back to catch a song you liked, record a station, etc.

Who's it good for?

People who are into listening to the radio; people who want to get into listening to the radio; people who are sick of their fatiguingly huge iTunes libraries.

Why's it better than alternatives?

It's got pretty much everything you could want from a radio app. All the stations I looked for were there, and the DVR functions worked flawlessly. Backgrounding is pretty essential for something like this, and I can say that it's a genuine relief to defer music to the radio DJ gods for a little bit and not have to worry about changing the song every 3 minutes.

How could it be even better?

The song search was sometimes a bit inaccurate, and the app served to remind me that there are ADVERTISEMENTS on the radio. How annoying.